A film by Victor Jessen
(1954)Alexandra Danilova • Frederic
Franklin • Leon Danielian and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

The legendary “in-house” filming of the Ballet Russe
de Monte Carlo, shot and edited by Victor Jessen, is now available
on DVD, with fascinating bonus features. The ballet stars Alexandra
Danilova, Frederic Franklin, and Leon Danielian. DVD extras include
audio commentary by Franklin, optional explanatory subtitles which
identify many of the dancers in the ensemble, an interview with Frederic
Franklin, a documentary titled “The Saga of Victor Jessen,” and
a complete list of the ballet productions filmed by Jessen. B&W
(feature) / Color (bonus segments), 87 min.

“ I simply wanted,” Victor Jessen once said, “to
make a permanent record on film of some of the most important works
of the most perfect living art: The Dance.” To service this
obsession, he mostly abandoned his job as an engineer in Los Angeles
to film the great ballet companies of the age in theaters around
the country.

Over a ten-year period beginning in the mid-1940s, he would enter
dressed all in black, camera hidden in a briefcase and pockets stuffed
with film magazines. His 16mm camera required rewinding every thirty
seconds, and so he had to return repeatedly to fill in gaps. In all,
he recorded twenty-four complete dance works and substantial portions
of nine more.

In 1954, in a caper he
called “The Ultimate Daring,”Jessen
lugged a bulky tape recorder into one theater, plugged it into a
light socket, and recorded the music from a Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo performance of Léonide Massine’s comedy ballet,
Gaîté Parisienne. He then laboriously edited his footage
to this recording and created the remarkable film presented on this
DVD. It shows the company featured on the brilliant and affecting
2005 documentary,Ballets Russes, in top form, performing one of its
most popular ballets led by the legendary Alexandra Danilova, Frederic
Franklin, and Leon Danielian.